Local Federal MPs, Sharon Bird and Stephen Jones, will today address the NUS rally at the University of Wollongong, to protest the Liberal’s plans to jack up student fees, cut University funding by $3.8 billion and reduce the income repayment threshold for HELP (formerly HECS) debts students repay debt at $42,000 from $55,000.
Continue reading

Member for Whitlam, and Labor’s Spokesperson for Regional Services Stephen Jones, and Member for Cunningham, Sharon Bird, are calling on Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, to join the fight to get sacked Appin miner Dave McLachlan’s job back.
Continue reading

The Illawarra’s Federal and State MPs are up in arms following Freedom of Information (FoI) statistics that reveal the region’s public schools will cop a $54.3 million funding cut over the next two years.
The Turnbull Government has taken an axe to public school funding, while the Berijikilan Government is walking away from its promise to hold Malcolm Turnbull accountable and honour the Gonski funding agreement.
Continue reading

After yet another Liberal Budget Illawarra infrastructure fail, Sharon Bird and Stephen Jones today wrote to Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Hon Darren Chester, to ascertain how he plans to progress the Maldon-Dombarton Rail Link with the New South Wales Government.
Continue reading

The 2017-18 Budget highlights the contempt that the Liberal Government have for the people of the Illawarra, with not one local project listed in the Federal Budget, Federal MPs, Sharon Bird and Stephen Jones said today.
Continue reading

Sharon Bird today met with local representatives from TAFE to discuss the impact of the Liberal Government’s decision to cut TAFE funding for Adult Migrant English Programs (AMEP) and the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program.
The Liberals recently announced that they would cut funding TAFE Illawarra for these programs and have instead awarded contracts to private training providers Navitas (AMEP) and MAX solutions (SEE).
Continue reading

Local Federal MPs, Sharon Bird and Stephen Jones, were today relieved to hear that the Government were reversing their cuts to community legal centres across the country, including the Illawarra Legal Centre.
Since the last election, the local Labor MPs had called for the Government to reverse the cruel cuts as a matter of urgency.
Continue reading

Australia’s TAFE, apprenticeship and skills sector is facing massive cuts under the Turnbull Government that will leave students in NSW more than $165 million worse off every year.
Today, Member for Whitlam, Stephen Jones, and Member for Cunningham, Sharon Bird, are calling on Malcolm Turnbull to step in and stop these cuts in the May budget.
Continue reading

Member for Whitlam, Stephen Jones, and Member for Cunningham, Sharon Bird, have called on the Federal Government to stop playing politics with school funding, and honour their election promise to match Labor dollar for dollar in delivering Gonski to schools across Australia.
Continue reading